I design engineering projects for middle school and high school students, often using materials that are pretty unexpected.
我为初中和高中学生设计工程项目，经常使用令人意想不到的材料。
My inspiration comes from problems in my daily life.
我的灵感来源于日常生活中的问题。
For example, one time I needed a costume to go to a comic convention,
例如有一次，我需要一套服装去参加动漫大会，
but I didn't want to spend too much money, so I made my own ... with a light-up crown and skirt.
但是我不想花很多钱，所以我自己用会发光的皇冠和短裙做了一套。
Another time, I was devastated because my favorite mobile game, Flappy Bird, was being taken off the app store.
还有一次，我非常沮丧，因为我最喜欢的手机游戏《飞翔的小鸟》要从应用商城下架了。
So I was faced with the dilemma to either never update my phone or never play Flappy Bird again.
所以我进退两难，要不就不升级我的手机，要不然就再也玩不了《飞翔的小鸟》了。
Unhappy with both options, I did the only thing that made sense to me.
两个我都不愿意，所以我找到了一个很有意思的办法。
I made a physical version of Flappy Bird that could never be taken off the app store.
我自己做了一个实体版本的《飞翔的小鸟》游戏，它永远也不会从应用商城下架。
So a few of my friends were also pretty addicted to the game, and I invited them to play as well.
我也有几个朋友对这游戏上瘾，我邀请请他们一起来玩。
Ah! What the heck?
啊！！！什么！？
And they told me that it was just as infuriating as the original game.
他们告诉我这和原版游戏一样，很燃。
So I uploaded a demo of this project online, and to my surprise it went viral. It had over two million views in just a few days.
所以我把这个产品的演示上传到网络，没想到它竟然火了。几天内就有了两百万的浏览量。
And what's more interesting are people's comments.
更有趣的是人们的评论。
A lot of people wanted to make it their own, or asked me how it was made.
很多人都想要自己制作，或是向我问制作的方法。
So this kind of confirmed my idea that through a creative project, we can teach people about engineering.
这似乎证实了我的想法--通过一个有创意的项目，我们能够让人们了解工程学。
With the money made from the viral video, we were able to let students in our classroom all make their own game in a box.
用那段视频赚来的钱，我们开设了教室，让孩子们能够在盒子里制作自己的游戏。
Although it was pretty challenging, they learned a lot of new concepts in engineering and programming.
即使这挺具有挑战性的，但他们学了很多工程和编程的新概念。
And they were all eager to learn so they could finish the game as well.
他们很渴望学习，所以他们也可以完成这个游戏。
So before Flappy Bird Box, I had the idea of using creative engineering projects to teach students.
在《飞翔的小鸟》盒子版之前，我就想过用有创意的工程项目去教导学生。
When I was teaching at a middle school, we asked our students to build a robot from a standard technology kit.
当我在初中教书的时候，我们要求学生用一个标准工具套装制作一个机器人。
And I noticed that a lot of them seemed bored.
我发现他们很多人都觉得无聊。
Then a few of them started taking pieces of paper and decorating their robots.
然后他们中的一些开始用纸装饰他们的机器人。
And then more of them got into it, and they became more interested in the project.
然后更多的学生参与进来，并且他们对项目更感兴趣了。
So I started looking for more creative ways to introduce technology to students.
我开始寻找更有创造性的方式来教学生科技。
What I found was that most technology kits available in school look a little intimidating.
我发现大多数学校的科技套装看起来都有一些吓人。
They're all made of plastic parts that you can't customize.
它们都是由无法改装的塑料部件构成。
On top of that, they're all very expensive, costing hundreds of dollars per kit.
而且，它们非常昂贵，每套花费上百美金。
So that's certainly not very affordable for most classroom budgets.
所以大多数教室都是承担不起的。

Since I didn't find anything, I decided to make something on my own. I started with paper and fabric.
既然我找不到什么东西，我决定自己做一些。我从纸和布料开始。
After all, we all played with those since we were kids, and they are also pretty cheap and can be found anywhere around the house.
毕竟我们从小就和它们打交道，而且它们挺便宜的，还可以从家里找到它们。
And I prototyped a project where students can create a light-up creature using fabric and googly eyes.
所以我创造了一个项目，学生能够使用布料和瞪大的眼睛，制作一个发光的生物。
They were all helping each other in classrooms, and were laughing and discussing the project.
他们在教室里互相帮助，我们笑着一起讨论这个项目。
And most importantly, they were able to insert their own creativity into the project.
最重要的是，他们都能够在项目中加入自己的创意。
So because of the success of this project, I continued to create more engineering projects to challenge my students.
因为这个项目的成功，我开发了更多工程项目去挑战我的学生。
And I also started to take these workshops outside of school and into the community.
我还开始把这些项目带到校外，带进社区。
And something really interesting happened.
一些很有趣的事情发生了。
I noticed a lot of people from very diverse backgrounds started coming to our workshops.
我发现很多不同背景的人开始参与这个项目。
And specifically, there were a lot more women and minorities than I expected,
特别是，有比我预想更多女性和少数民族参与，
and that you wouldn't usually see at a traditional engineering workshop.
这在传统工程项目中并不常见。
Now take a look at this employee report at a major technology company in 2016.
现在看看2016年大型科技公司的雇员报告。
Women make up only 19 percent of the technology workforce.
女性只占技术人员的19%。
And underrepresented minorities make up only four percent.
少数民族（URM）只有4%。
This statistic might look familiar if you walked into a high school robotics club, or a college engineering class.
当你走进一个高中机器人俱乐部或者一个大学的工程课，这个数据看起来可能很熟悉。
Now, there's a wide variety of problems that contribute to the lack of diversity in the technology force.
很多问题造成了科技人员缺少多样性。
Perhaps one solution could be to introduce technology to students through creative projects.
可能一个解决方法是通过创造性项目来把科技带给学生。
I'm not saying that this could solve everything,
我并不觉得这可以解决一切，
but it could introduce technology to people who originally wouldn't be interested in it because of how it has been portrayed and taught in school.
但这可能会把科技带给本不会对其感兴趣的人，因为他们在学校的时候科技课已经被教得并不令人感兴趣。
So how do we start to change the perception of technology?
所以我们如何开始改变对科技的感观？
Most students think that it's boring or unwelcoming, so I have always designed projects following three principles.
大多数学生认为工程是无聊和困难的，所以我一直依照这三条原理来设计项目。
First is having a low floor, and that means this project is easy to get started.
第一是低门槛，这意味着这个项目很好开始。
So take a look at this tutorial. The first project we asked students to learn is to make a circuit on paper.
看看这个教程。我们要求学生学习的第一个项目是在纸上制作一条电路。
As you can see, it doesn't take very long to learn, and it's pretty easy even for beginners.
如你所见，学会这个花不了很多时间。对初学者来说也很简单。
And having a low floor also means that we're removing the financial barrier that prevents people from completing a project.
低门槛也意味着让人们放弃一个项目没有经济障碍。
So with paper, copper tape, lightbulb and a battery, people can complete this project for under a dollar.
所以用纸、铜胶带、灯泡和一个电池，人们能够在一美元以下完成这个项目。
So second principle is having a high ceiling.
第二条原理是高质量。
This means that there's a lot of room to grow, and students are constantly being challenged.
这意味着成长空间很大，学生不断会被挑战。
At first it might just be a light-up creature, but then you can add sensors and microcontrollers,
刚开始可能只是一个会发光的生物，然后你就可以加入一些传感器和微控制器，
and start to program the creature to interact with its environment.
然后开始编程，让它能和环境互动。
And finally, the third principle is customization. This means that we can make this project relevant to anyone.
最后，第三条原理是个性化。这意味着我们可以让这个项目和每个人都有关。
That's the beauty of using everyday materials; it's very easy to customize using paper and fabric.
这就是使用日常材料的好处，用纸和布料来个性化很简单。
So even if you don't like Flappy Bird, you can still make your own game.
所以即使你不喜欢《飞翔的小鸟》，你也可以制作自己的游戏。
So our game is about Justin Bieber, because he's been speeding, and the object is to prevent him from getting caught by the LAPD.
我们的游戏与贾斯丁·比伯有关，因为他一直开车超速，目标就是防止他被洛杉矶警察抓住。
Yeah, but he's changing so -- we're a part of his posse. Thank you.
但是他在改变，我们是他的粉丝。谢谢。